Neotiger: Origins
by mandygoestomedschool
Summary: What if just once Wonder Woman had abandoned her Amazon antiman sentiments? What if it had been with Batman? What if the mistake had resulted in new life?
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

_21 years ago_

Diana took a deep breath. No. No, no, no, _no_! This wasn't happening. There was a mistake. Some sort of mistake. She

started to feel faint and had to sit down on a nearby chair in the Watchtower control station. "J'onn..." she slowly pronounced her

green-skinned friend's name. "You can't...I can't...no!" She just stared off in space, still in shock. "It's not possible."

J'onn shook his head. "I am sorry, Diana, but there is no masking the truth. My telepathy indicates there is a second soul

inside your body. I recognized it last week when the League called me to find out if you were still alive after Braniac attempted to

infiltrate the bodies of everyone in the Watchtower and then kill them. But don't worry...I didn't tell them what I discovered."

"But...no!" This must have been the billionth time tonight the simple word had escaped her lips. "I don't see how it could

happen." But the worst part was that she did see how it could happen. If J'onn were right -- and she could not remember a time he

had not been -- then she knew exactly who shared the creation of new life inside her.

"Diana, listen to me. You cannot panic and you cannot do anything irrational. I have a friend in Metropolis. Clark knows

him too, but he does not have to find out. I will go with you and he will give you a completely accurate, free testing...for..." J'onn

took a breath. Neither of them had said the word so far. "...for _pregnancy_."

Diana was a mess, but she didn't break down into tears or have a hissy fit, like the Martian Manhunter halfway expected.

Instead, she just nodded numbly and stood.

"Diana, where are you going?"

She stopped in the doorway, but did not turn to face him. "Make the appointment, J'onn. I have to find Bruce."

"You don't want to wait until after you know for sure?"

She shook her head. "No. He should know now. But, J'onn?"

"Yes?"

"One thing I am certain of: the baby will live. I really don't give a damn who it inconveniences, boy or girl, I am keeping this

life."

"But what will your mother -- and all your sisters for that matter -- say?"

"It does not matter right now. It is not the Amazon way to destroy innocent life. Man or woman."

J'onn nodded in agreement. "Do as you have to, Princess. I am always here if you need assistance."

Diana nooded, turned, and smiled gratefully, and walked out the door.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

_Present_

High school sophomore Christopher Prince walked out of the brick school building with his girlfriend, Crystal, just before the last bell on a Friday afternoon rang. His last period teacher never minded letting them out a few minutes early, and with the prom tomorrow, most kids were leaving early anyway. His apartment was close enough that he could walk to and from school, and Crystal was coming over to his house today to "study", so they slowly walked hand-in-hand out of the courtyard in front of the school.

Crystal's eyes shone the way they usually did. "Chris, I'm so happy, I've never even been to your house before!"

Christopher nodded, his blond hair falling in his blue eyes, forcing him to push it back the way he usually did. "Maybe if we're lucky, my mom'll let you...stay the night." He attempted to get a sexy tone in his voice, which didn't sound exactly right, but Crystal fell for it, anyhow.

They both stopped as she stepped a couple of inches closer to him. "That'd be nice..." She brushed her lips against his. He returned the gesture and wrapped his arms around her. They began to passionately make-out just outside the gates of John J. Morischini High. Finally, a teacher came out and yelled at them. They stopped, gave her a sullen glare and walked on.   
"Well, she ruined that," Christopher commented. "But it's okay. My mom doesn't care as long as she doesn't have to see it." He smiled at her and they went on, walking. She really was beautiful, with her dark, African-American skin and short, brown hair that managed to be sexy and cute at the same time. He felt really and truly lucky to have her. They had gotten together a couple of days after she broke up with her jock boyfriend. In fact, Christopher had played a role in that. No, but it wasn't so he could go out with her. Honestly, she had been kind of a friend of his since ninth grade and when she started not coming to class or showing up with bruises on her arm, he realized something was wrong. So he finally made her admit to him that Devon had been abusing her, physically and sexually, and pressuring her into cutting class so they could go and do it. But Crystal still wasn't willing to break up with him. So Chris came up with a plan. He went and told Devon that Crystal was cheating with him, counting on the fact that Devon's rage would come out on him first. He and his buddies jumped Chris and tried to beat him up, but Crystal told a teacher, who stopped it and Devon ended up getting expelled. Happily ever after, huh? Well, not exactly. Crystal still got crank calls sometimes, becoming a little scarier each time. Finally, her mom had recently installed a new alarm system. Cryssie tried to pretend like it didn't bother her, but Christopher saw something in her eyes every time someone would mention anything about it. She was afraid and he hated it. He hated Devon, and more than that he hated the fact that there was nothing he could do about it. Devon pretty much kicked his ass in that one fight. Of course, he hadn't been fighting back for the simple reason that he had no desire to get expelled as well, but he still wasn't confident that he could take him if he needed to. Maybe it was because he had really never been in a fistfight, but if you were strong, wouldn't you like feel it or something?

He was pulled out of his thoughts by them arriving at his house. His mom should've been home from work, but she was apparently out on one of those seemingly constant "emergency business trips." He wasn't exactly sure that he believed her, but, hey, who was he to question the wisdom of a single mom?

The door was unlocked as usual, so they both ran inside, tripping over each other, until they crashed on the couch, panting and happy. Crystal grabbed the remote and turned the huge TV on. Christopher jumped up to get snacks. He actually was not allowed to have snacks in the living room, but his mom never did anything about it. He had to admit: for a mom, she was pretty cool. She let him go wherever he wanted, rarely lectured, bought him whatever they could afford, hey, she didn't even care that he was sleeping with his girlfriend on a regular basis! She just pretended not to know. As he reached into the pantry in search of some chips or popcorn, he thought about how it seemed as if she were trying to make up for something. What, he didn't know. If it was the fact that he didn't have a present dad, he didn't really care much. When he was a kid, it had seemed a little strange that he was the only boy in his class with just a mommy, but now that he was older, he was used to it. In a way, he still thought about maybe trying to find his dad someday when he was older, but, for now he decided, it would just complicate things. And he really didn't want his life much more complicated than it already was. He pulled out a bag of sour cream & onion Lays and set them on the counter to close the pantry door. It was when he turned to pick them up that he saw it.

Crystal couldn't help thinking her boyfriend was taking an awful long time just to get some snacks. She jumped up and went into the kitchen, where she saw him leaning over the counter, reading something. "Chris…what's wrong?" He didn't answer, so she went and read the note on the counter over his shoulder.

_Christopher,_ It read. _I'm so sorry. I can't do this to you any longer. You need to know the truth. I'm going out of town for a couple of days and when I come back, we need to talk. It has to be this way. Take care of yourself and the house until I return. You can have your friends and Cryssie over and stuff, just don't trash the apartment. I'm sorry this is such short notice, honey, I love you more than world's can express, but we can't live a lie any longer. I will explain all this when I return. Take care. Love, Mom._

Crystal frowned as Christopher turned to look at her. "What's that all about?" Ok, so that was a really dumb question, but it was all she could think of to say.

Chris shook his head. "I have no idea. This is the first time my mom's done something psycho like this."

"I know, your mommy's always so calm and stuff. I love her. But what do you think is going on?"

He walked back into the living room and sank down on the couch, putting his head in his hands. "I'm just clueless."

She turned off the TV and put an arm around his shoulder. "Don't worry, baby." She smiled a semi-seductive smile. "I'll make you feel better."

Chris smiled back at her. "It's probably nothing. You're right. Let's just get on with the day." But every bone in his body was telling him he was lying to himself. It wasn't nothing and he knew it.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Diana took a deep breath. _Okay, this is it. Calm down, girl, you've gotten a lot closer to him than this. Steady your nerves. You're an Amazon. Just ring the..._ She reached and pressed her finger to the doorbell. Less than a second later, the door swung open to reveal a tall, elderly man in a tuxedo. Ok, screw the calmness, Diana had been out of Gotham for too long. "Alfred!" she squealed, and jumped up to hug him.

"Madam Diana, you look beautiful as always. Now, could you please unhand me? I'm not as strong as I used to be."

"Oh, Alfred, I'm sorry. It's just...I've been away for so long..." She got off him.

He motioned her inside. "Indeed, so what brings you back now?"

"Oh...I have to speak with Bruce."

"About what?"

"More like 'who'...but that's not important. I'll tell you some other time."

"Oh, so you'll start keeping secrets from me now, eh?"

She smiled. "I'm sorry, Alfred, but very few know about this and...well, for now it would just be best if I keep it that way."

"If you say so, Madam Diana." He turned to go. "I'll get Master Bruce."

"Thank you, Alfred." She stood there, somewhat awkwardly, as he left.

Taking a deep breath, she stepped out of the entrance hall into the finely decorated formal living room. She sat down on the couch, just to jump back up as a flood of memories about that couch rushed to her, mostly X-rated. She took another breath, composed herself and sat in the $5,000, straight-back chair across from it. God, what was taking Alfred so long? Probably having to recover Bruce from passing out after he was told that the woman he hadn't spoken to in almost sixteen years was here. She smiled at the thought. She brushed imaginary lint off her black halter top and red, shimmery snake skin skirt. Examining, her knee-high, leather boots, she wondered if the sexy outfit was quite as accidental as she tried to convince herself. She was just wearing what she felt like, right? Why would someone like her feel that she needed to appeal to a mere mortal, even the father of her child? Silly notion, that. At least her hair wasn't anything special, just tightly curled with the purple tips she had gotten last month. That's normal...well, normal for her, an Amazon goddess.

"Oh, God..." She heard footsteps around the corner. Just one set. Was it Alfred coming to tell her that "Master Bruce" couldn't be bothered to see someone as beneath him? Would she have to go back there and push her way into his Bat Cave to talk to him? Or was it something else...

It was something else. He stepped around the corner, tall, dark, and handsome. What else was new? Actually, maybe it was just her, but it seemed that Christopher's father had just gotten more attractive with time. Small shades of gray ebbed at the edge of his jet black, damp hair, accenting his perfectly even tan and the firm muscles visible due to this lack of a shirt, just a towel thrown around his neck. All her thoughts about him being a mere mortal melted. He looked more divine right then than she could feel in a million years of battling Hades.

She stood and walked seductively towards him, every ounce of her being reminding her of why he had been the one to break her Amazon abstinence from men. She got her face less than an inch from his before either of them spoke. It was herself. "Do you always greet your visitors like this or am I just special?"

He smiled, but it was something of a sad smile that she couldn't understand. "Diana..."

She put a finger to her lips and ran her finger down the center of his six-pack. She raised her eyes to meet his. Why had she come here again? Her entire mind seemed clouded. Her lips raised to meet his. And they were on the couch, making out like they were two, hormone-charged teenagers. It lasted a good five minutes, every ounce of her wanting him before everything came back to her and she sat bolt upright, disconnecting her mouth from his abruptly.

He jumped back, his arms still wrapped tightly around her waist. "What's wrong?" He reached his mouth back towards hers, but she pulled away.

"I-I'm sorry, Bruce. This...this isn't why I came..."

He laughed, but it was half-hearted. "I kinda figured that. It's just...seeing you...after so long..."

She nodded. "I know. But I have something we need to discuss." She pulled out of his grasp. "It's Christopher." He didn't say anything for a second. "Bruce...our son. I know you didn't forget."

The unexplainable sadness returned, this time with an explanation, as he shook his head. "No. Hell, no. Very few days go by that I don't think about him."

She waited. "Then why haven't you called?"

He looked at her, a bewildered look on his face. "We made an agreement, remember? At his christening? It was best for him --"

She knew the rest. "-- if he didn't have any contact with a father figure at all. You'd stay out of his life if I didn't replace you. I remember. Bruce, you have know idea how hard it's been."

"Having no love life?"

"No! I mean, not that, having to keep you from him."

"Diana...what does he think?"

"I...I don't even know anymore. When he was young, he had so many questions about why he was the only kid in his class with no daddy...I told him...oh, God, I don't even remember what I told him..."

Bruce sighed. "Don't lie."

Tears started to well in her eyes. "I told him you were dead."

Again, a sad, sad laugh. "I guess for all you knew it could have been the truth."

"Bruce, it's not funny. That's one of the things that's been killing me for all these years, not knowing if what I was telling him was the truth. With our 'jobs', you just never know...you never know..."

"How old is he?"

How random. "Sixteen." There was a silence so she continued. "He has a girlfriend. God, Bruce, I just couldn't take another day of looking at him, seeing your face in his, but knowing that he might not ever see it."

He turned his back. "So why did you come here?" His voice had changed. It was almost...angry. "You didn't bring him. Was it just to appease your guilty conscience? So you could sleep at night?"

What? "Bruce! What the hell was that all about! You seriously think I would come back here and face the father of my son who I haven't seen in sixteen years, fully prepared to find out that he was dead or that he hated me, to be _selfish_!" How dare he? Without thinking, she slapped him. "Maybe this was a mistake!" She turned on her heel and trotted with her goddess gait to the door.

"You know what, Diana? Maybe it _was_ a mistake! Just like climbing into bed with you was a mistake! The biggest mistake of my life!" Satisfied, he waited for the inevitable reaction.

She stopped, but didn't turn back. "A mistake?" Her voice choked, but the anger in it grew. "A freaking mistake? I broke the greatest commitment of my life just because I thought we shared something, but it was just a mistake to you!" Suddenly, she jerked around and bolted across the room with superhuman speed, grabbed his neck, and slammed him against the wall. "You know what I think? I think maybe Christopher's life would be better if his father actually was dead! That would probably be better than the poor boy having to find out --" Her grip on his neck tightened as her voice rose. "-- that his father thinks he's a fuckin' mistake! Wouldn't that be better, Brucey?" Then, for no reason, tears filled her eyes, angry tears, blurring her vision. She couldn't do it. There was no way she could harm him. She slowly let loose of his neck and stepped back, still unable to see. She collapsed on the sofa and started sobbing. Bruce sat down next to her, his neck still red and bruised, and -- despite the fact -- that she had been threatening his life just moments before -- hugged her. He hugged tighter than anyone had ever hugged her before and, though she wouldn't admit it, she felt safer in his arms than she ever had felt with anyone before.

They just sat there for about an hour, just holding each other. It was nothing sexual, it was just intimate. Diana vaguely noticed Alfred's presence in the doorway, but she didn't really care. Finally, she broke free and looked up at Bruce. "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry, sweetie." He started to say something, but she put a finger to his lips. "I told myself I'd keep myself under control when I got here, but...I wasn't prepared for...this." She sighed, still keeping the finger on his lips. "I love you, Bruce, I always will, but we were over a long time ago. And when I saw you...well, if I had just stayed more under control..."

He nodded, tenderly removing her finger from his lips. Apparently, he had sensed Alfred's presence, too, because he said, without turning, "Alfred...would you mind taking care of the house for a few days? I think I have a little trip I need to make."

Alfred nodded stoicly, nothing new for him, but there was a fire in his eyes that betrayed his excitement.

"Bruce...I don't think that's such a good idea..." She pulled her hair behind her ears.

"What? Why not? I need to see Christopher. That's what you came here for, right?"

She nodded. "Yeah, but...you know, he's never seen you once before and...well, by going right to his house...I don't know. If it were me, I'd feel like someone was just barging in on my home and territory, someone I didn't know. Maybe not, but..."

He hadn't thought of that. "So..."

"So, why don't I go and bring him back here? Let him meet you here."

Bruce just nodded. It didn't really make a difference to him, he just worried he might not be able to stand those days waiting for Christoper and Diana to show up. "But, you'll call when you get here, right?"

"Of course, my love. I'll call." Without another word, before either of them could change their minds or any plans, she turned, picked up her purse and walked out the door.


End file.
